Projectile.



0. VAN 0. WHEELER & Are. MdKENNA.

' PROJEGTILE. APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 1I 1909.

Patented July 5, 1910.

Hmeoaes I I M 814042 few m 6] ttozmu 4M UNITED sTArnsra rENT OFFICE.

CHARLES VAN CISE WHEELER AND ALEXANDER GEORGE MCKENNA. OF WASHING- TON. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. ASSIGNOBS TO FIRTH STERLING STEEL COMPANY. A.

CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

PROJECTILE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

To all whom it may concern:

Bo it known that we, GI-IARLRS vAN' CISE Wnnnnnu and ALEXANDER Gnouor. Mo- Kuxzu. both citizens of the United States, and residents of Washington, in the Histrict of Columbia, United States of America, have invented certain new andalaeful Improvements in Projectiles, of which the following is a specification, accompanied by drawings.

The object of this invention [S to unprove the armor ll lfll'l'llllg quality of projectiles at long range by combining so tar as we have discos-wired them to be compatible :1 minimum loss of energy in flight with a minimum of resistance in plate penetration for :1 given impact velocity thus attain ing an actual increase of effectiveness at long range. I

\Ve have been unable to disrovor, iron] experiments of our own and of others conducted on many difi'eront. llllt'S and investigating a number of \\itlel v difl'vring bypothoses, any exact law for calculating or foretelling, the initial energy required to penetrate at. long range a given plate under given conditions of valibor and of slit-ll conatruction. 'l'lw factors are so numerous and so niut-ually dependent and the cost and labor of oxpel'inwnts to isolate and analyze each factor are so great that at present it f is doubtful if any one of the principal coni ditionn can be regarded as an lllLltPQ-"(ltlli' variable. Certain experiments and oxpoii onous show \\'a vs by which [light may he improved with sacrifice of 1'wnetrali0n quality and we ourselves have shown in our previous United States Patents No. 721,457 l obruury 24, 1903 and No. 375.023 Deccan her 31, 1907, ways of improving penetration for a. given impact volrmity. 'u have now, in )urt :uin; rut-lain h -'potlwava whioh wo are So far unable to establish the laws, discovered and produced in the presentin vuntion an outside contour of pl'ojt'olllu as a whole inclusive of cal and nose, of approved form that aiforcs a means of getting improved arn'ior-piorcingeffortsat long 5 range for a. given initial velocity.

In the nit-companving drawin; Figure l is a. side view, and Fig. 2 a suction of tho heal: ombodinmnt. of tho invention now known to us as designed, for texamplo, for a six inch armor piercing shall;

As is customary, the diameter of the. shell between rilling band and bourrolut should be :1 few hundredtha loss than the full caliber, and the. roar or butt. and of the. shell may be of the usual approximately lint. type.

To lay out the point and reap contour on a longitudinal axial pllllfi proceed as follows :-l*ron1 a point B located 5a one caliher from the rear end of the shell and at the end of a diameter or swi-ll ot' a few hundredths of an inch in excess of the ('aliber (say six inches and thror one. hundrcdlhs) let an arc B U be drawn starting parallel with the axis, at ll and running forward to intersect the axis at C, using a radius of considerably grez'iter length than the entire shell length so producwl. Too great. a radius will give an unduly long shell. inconvenient. to handle and necessitating a largo empty space within the (a i or a very man-rial truncating of the lip oft no cap within the contour givon by this Smooth curve. ll'o pret'v atprosont to us a radius of seven times the swell diameter of [Lilli inches stated above. The contour of our solid projmstivo point vrossrs and intorsrrts this curve twice. once in tho rear 0'! the bourrelot at F and once at l), at or about tho roar 0nd of the rap and lies well oulsido Ellltfll curve botwnrn hose points: prodnring;- a bulge in the contour of tho whole. projtt'llll and conforming! to a morn massive form of the solid nht-ll point at this part of the contour than ii the long gronlle ruri'o B (,l as followed. The bourrclol and this part of tln? shell point. more exactly voustrm-iod as follows: From a diameter of say six and throw. one lnmdrodt-hs int-hos for lllt' r-m'vll and at. very ronnidorablo distant-o in front of the pointli, say two and sixtysown hulnlrmllhs. at (l Hllllfl an an: G ll. starting puralh-l with tho axis and rxlvuding forward to intersect the axis at ll. with a. radius of two and one half times llndianu'tor of tho swell 103). The hourrrlvlis eventually ground or turned down arouratoly to a hundredth incl: loss than lho valibrr and tapered oll' behind (l. as shown.

The nose ol the shell point is prol'rrably bluntvd an ant forth in our lalrnl. No. T'ZIAST of February 21- 1903 and the prosout. invention primarily ounvmna tho rvlationship and rolllollls of tho t-Xlmsvd walls Patented July 5, 1910.

of the projectile and cap rather than the ii'iclosed point nose, mnlerstaiuhng of course, that such nose be of suit-able armor piercing form,

The cap K L occuples all thes 'iace be tween the shell point proper and the outlying curve 1.) (I oxce iting that. toward I) it. may terminate without coming to a knifeedge and at its tip it is preferably truncated as shown to shorten it without vary substantially ail'ecting, its distribution. its forward portion L is hollow to reduce its weight to that determined on and to bring its mass more directly about the tip of the shell nose and we prefer to detern'iine its weight as explained in our Patent No. 575,023 December 31, 1907, with the precise construct-ion described it will be now evident that the bourrelet is much farther forward than the swell of the long are B C and the shell consequently is less liable to wabbling in its initial flight from the gun mouth yet nevertheless the contour as a whole follows generally and very closely for all purposes of air penetration and flight, the long gen do curve from B to C of radius n'iore than twice the entire length of shell and some seven times the caliber. The bulge G D nevertheless brings both the bourrelet and the center of mass much farther forward than it are B D were actually followed. Furtheremore, the shell point has a base portion which is shorter and requires less en ergy to )enetrate than if a very long gently tapered use such as would exist if the seven diameter radius of curve were here emplayed.

The invention allows some latitude from the proportions given. The chamber of the shell is determined by the standard of shell weight and cap weight or their combined weight rei'piired. If the base or exposed portion of the shell point conforms to a more abrupt curve of two calibus radius, the point will be shortened with a tendency to use eilicient penetrating qualities, but the bourreletand swell may be advanced somewhat and the mass of the cap as defined by the bounding clll'i'es kept as before. So again it a somewhat lesser radius for the general contour are It be chosen, say live calibers the projiL-ctile ioint bein as described and shown, suri are it (I, may be bodily moved forward to start enough nearer the lainrrolet; to allow the saint: vohnno for the cap about the point-of the shell. The dimensions given therefor although exactly those which we prefer are intended merely to exemplify the shell improvement described and claimed.

\Ve of course contemplate the construction and use of dummy or practice shell having a contour and disposition of weight in simulation of and in accordance with the fore going description whether cast in one piece with the cap or otherwise, it intended to follow for practice purposes our invention and we desire to cover and to include all such as customary eciplivalents for practice purposes, of the new shell herein claimed.

Larger and smaller sizes of shell may be proportioned similarly to the six inch shell described.

What; we claim is:

A chambered and capped armor piercing projectile, the solid point of which approximates at its exposed portions a curvature of a radius not exceeding four calibers and the side contour of the cap of which approximates an arc of a radius of seven diameters, which are projected rearward intersects and runs inside of the exposed contour of the shell point in the rear of the cap and heeoi'ues parallel with the axis of the shell in the rear of the bourrelet, the exposed contour of the point thereby forming a slight,

bulge relatively to the said are, for substanv lialiy the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof we have signed this specification in the )resence of two sol scribing witnesses, l e bruary 26th 1905).

CHARLES VAN CISE \l'llEl'lhl'lR. ALEXANDER GEORGE lllCh'llNNA. \i' it nesses:

VAI'Iil-lli Anni-meow, H. F. CLARK. 

